Tea Partiers To Meet, Greet, Likely Yell At Orrin Hatch In DC Tonight

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
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A group of the most conspicuous names in tea party politics will gather at the National Press Club tonight for the Tea Party Express’ first Washington town hall since their big wins in November. Expected at the event are the pantheon of tea party pols, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT).

Also in attendance will be a man who very much wants some tea party cred these days: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). A top name on many tea party target lists, Hatch doesn’t want to go down the way his former comrade, Sen. Bob Bennett, did last year. The objectively conservative Bennett was booted from the Senate after tea partiers used his TARP vote against him at the state convention and denied him the GOP nomination.

Hatch clearly wants to avoid the same fate, and his appearance at tonight’s Tea Party Express event could turn a love fest into a shouting match.

Hatch has an odd relationship with the Tea Party Express, the group that spent the most tea party money on candidates in 2010, but is also the least grassrootsy of the movement. Whereas most tea partiers are dead-set against another Hatch term in office, the Tea Party Express has been — at the very least — calling on conservatives to hear Hatch out before making a decision about him.

Sal Russo, one of the men pulling the strings at the Tea Party Express and a longtime associate of Hatch’s, recently told National Journal that Hatch was an “original tea partier.” Russo suggested his group will not do to Hatch what it helped do to Bennett.

Not all of the Tea Party Express’ leadership feels the same way. Dave Weigel reported the group’s president Amy Kremer — who hails from the grassroots wing of the tea party movement — is not interested in giving Hatch a pass, despite what Russo said.

That brings us to tonight. The Tea Party Express is welcoming Hatch to its town hall — but also taking pains to make it clear the group did not invite him. From National Journal:

Tea Party Express spokesperson Levi Russell said that the group didn’t invite Hatch to the forum. The senator invited himself.

“Sen. Hatch heard about it and expressed interest,” Russell said. “And it’s a smart move. It’s an effort to reach out to us and the movement at large and say, ‘Hey, I’ve made mistakes, but I’m willing to change.’ It may be too little too late, but that’s up to the voters to decide. Either way, someone like Hatch who’s definitely taken heat from conservatives needs to be prepared to answer some difficult questions.”

For Hatch, a strong performance tonight — amongst what is probably the most potentially friendly tea party crown he could face — could be the difference between running with the conservative movement and against it. For tea partiers gathering in DC, Hatch’s appearance will offer the once chance in the evening to take real shots at a lawmaker who they think doesn’t agree with him.

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